On this day, 10 November 1995 Ken Saro-Wiwa, Ogoni Indigenous author, activist and environmentalist was hanged by the Nigerian state alongside eight other Ogoni people. Saro-Wiwa (pictured) advocated for Ogoni rights, and helped organise non-violent resistance to the destruction of Indigenous lands by the Royal Dutch Shell oil company. He was arrested by the military dictatorship, tried and killed. Many witnesses who testified against Saro-Wiwa later recanted, admitting that they had been bribed either by the government or by Shell to lie. Saro-Wiwa was the first of the nine activists to be murdered. It took five attempts for authorities to kill him. His final words were “Lord take my soul, but the struggle continues.” https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1579384092246735/?type=3
“The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.”
— Henry David Thoreau, Walden (via philosophybits)
(Nov. 10th) What the fuck is happening this post election & what Trump is still trying to do to still remain in power explained:
To start, Trump has not conceded yet, despite Biden being the clear winner and current president-elect. 70% of republicans do not believe these elections were “free and fair” and believe this election is fraudulent. Protests have been occuring in disputed states since election night with countering messages to both “stop the count” and “count the votes.” A pro-Trump march on Washington is planned for this Saturday (Nov 14th). (watch: what would happen if a candidate refuses to concede.)
Alaska has still not been called. However, there are no legal disputes regarding Alaska which will likely go to Trump either way. Alaska waited to start counting mail-in ballots and it would’ve been impossible to call the Senate and House races and it IS mathematically possible the results will flip to Biden (though very unlikely). But Alaska only has 3 electoral votes and has no impact on the final presidential results.
Arizona, despite being called on election night by Fox News and AP, is still not OFFICIALLY called. There are still some outstanding and provisional ballots to be counted but it is mathematically impossible that Trump will overtake over Biden’s lead.
Georgia is still not called, and with about 98% ballots counted it MIGHT be close enough for a recount. Even if a recount flips for Trump, Georgia does not have enough electoral votes to flip the race, given Biden’s overall national lead. However, Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue are calling on their own state’s REPUBLICAN secretary of state to resign. Loeffler and Perdue are claiming there have been many “failures” in the Georgia elections despite offer NO EVIDENCE. Note, both Loeffler and Perdue will be the two Georgia Republicans facing runoff elections on January 5th.
North Carolina has about 97% votes counted, but will be accepting absentee ballots that arrive through November 12th as long as they’re marked by election day. Trump is already ahead in North Carolina and estimated to win, so this will not change the outcome of the election. (View all uncalled elections, both state and presidential races here.)
Some world leaders have already congratulated Biden, including Trump allies like Benjamin Netanyahu, Narendra Modi, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan. While others like Jair Bolsonaro, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping have yet to speak out, and Mexico’s AMLO has stated he’s waiting until Trump has completed his legal challenges. Some have already started making transition plans with the Biden administration, including Iran who has stated they want to enter the Iran nuclear deal again.
US Republicans are also divided on their support for Trump or Biden. Currently, only republican Senators Mitt Romney, Lisa Murkowski, Ben Sasse, and Susan Collins have congratulated Biden and acknowledged his win. Fox News has officially called the election for Biden and cut away yesterday when Kayleigh McEnany tried to make claims of election fraud. Pissing off Trump and many Fox viewers. lol
Mitch McConnell, on the other hand, is not currently accepting the Biden win, supporting Trump’s lawsuits and accusations of fraud. And despite Fox News calling the election, they’ve featured Newt Gingrich on who claimed George Soros helped Biden steal the election. They’ve also been featuring segments like Tucker Carlson questioning mail-in ballots, Fox and Friends has claimed software was used to flip votes for Biden, and Lindsey Graham was on Fox saying “If Republicans don’t challenge and change the U.S. election system, there will never be another Republican president elected again. President Trump should not concede.”
Trump is currently 0-10 with his attempted election lawsuits. Trump’s lawyers have failed to provide evidence of his claims in court. Click here to see an example of how hilariously unprepared some of these lawyers were to defend these “arguments.”
Trump’s 11th lawsuit, that is currently still in action, is interesting though. In Pennsylvania, Trump’s federal lawsuit wants the courts to BLOCK Pennsylvania from certifying its electoral votes. This basically excluding the state from the Electoral College. Luckily, legal scholars don’t see how this lawsuit could work either. (Read the full court filing here. And here is a good rundown of what this legal challenge is trying to do.)
More behind-the-scenes, Trump’s loyalist AG, Bill Barr, is allowing the Department of Justice to investigate Trump’s unfounded claims of voter fraud. Mitch McConnell and Bill Barr privately met yesterday, but refused to comment on their meeting.
Trump has also fired his defense secretary, Mark Esper, who publicly disagreed with Trump’s desire to put troops on the streets. Christopher A. Wray, the FBI. director, and Gina Haspel, the CIA. director are also expected to be fired.
more updates already:
[Sec. of State Pompeo outright denies the election results: ‘There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration.”] (video)
update:
The White House is telling federal agencies to proceed with their plans for Trump’s 2021 February budget, moving forward as if they won the election. (article)
Another senator seemingly backs Trump. Republican Senator Ron Johnson was asked by a reporter “Have you congratulated Vice President Biden yet?” and he responded “No. Nothing to congratulate him about.” (video)
Joe Biden held a press conference and addressed some of the concerns about Trump’s actions since the election. Highlights: - Biden laughed at Mike Pompeo’s remarks about transitioning to a “second Trump administration.“ - Biden confirms that Mitch McConnell has NOT talked to him and that he is NOT currently receiving the daily presidential brief. However, Biden acted as if it wasn’t a big deal and said he didn’t see need for legal action yet and doesn’t think the daily briefing is necessary right now. *face FUCKING palm* - Biden said they will continue to transition as normal and that Trump’s refusal to concede “is NOT of much consequence.” ?????????? ok - Biden also claims that the Republicans are backing Trump because “the whole Republican party has been put in a position, with a few notable exceptions, of being mildly intimidated by the sitting president.” As if this isn’t exactly who the republicans are and what they want to do?????
